Pages on this site

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Civil Union Bait and Switch: it's not the same

In Rhode Island, they don't have the votes for marriage, but might have the votes for civil unions, even though both sides dislike them. In New York, CUs are also being offered by some as "compromise" as the battle heats up for equality. Ted Olson and Eric Schneiderman write in the NY Daily News:

Unlike the universally accepted concept of marriage, employers, businesses and individuals simply do not know how to treat civil unions. Several states have experimented with these so-called compromise solutions and have already reached the conclusion that they just don't work....

A civil union is not a marriage, nor is it an adequate substitute for one. To suggest otherwise is a cruel fiction. Even if all of the inherent confusion and complexities could be resolved and civil unions could somehow provide couples with the same rights and responsibilities of a true marriage, the separation of the two institutions creates a badge of inferiority that forever stigmatizes the relationships of committed same-sex couples as different, separate, unequal and less worthy.

Time and time again, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that marriage is one of the most fundamental rights that we enjoy as Americans under the Constitution. It's a right older than the Bill of Rights and older than our political parties. It is the foundation of society. The time to grant the right of marriage to all New Yorkers is now.

Great article, which includes some examples of how unions are treated as sub-marriage. Go read it! But don't read the online comments, they are disgusting.